After being a finalist in the OMHA Bantam Championship, Read's team won the championship in his first year of midget,[1] with Ilderton defeating Centre Hastings in four games. From minor hockey, Read played OHA Junior D hockey for the Lucan Irish in the 2003–04 season.

In the 2004–05 season, Read was runner up to future NHLer Logan Couture for the WOHL Rookie of the Year Award. Couture, a graduate of the Lucan Irish of the Shamrock League, played that season with the St. Thomas Stars before being an Ontario Hockey League (OHL) first round draft pick in 2005.